Murphy's coverage teams allowed a 76-yard punt return touchdown in Denver's 36-14 whipping of Carolina on Sunday. It also got a missed field goal from Justin Medlock and, as usual, nothing good from its own kick and punt coverage teams.

By doing this in midseason, we get another indication of how serious Rivera's own situation is. General manager Marty Hurney has already been fired -- team owner Jerry Richardson issued that pink slip -- and Rivera and his staff are also coaching for their jobs over the final seven games of the season.

So was this a good move? I think so. Murphy's special teams have mostly underperformed for the past year and a half. Rivera characterized the move as necessary because of "philosophical differences" and a lack of production from the special teams. He's got to try something, and of the three chief Panther assistants (the offensive and defensive coordinators being the other two), Murphy has shown the least when you look at the entire history of all the coaches' 25-game tenure.

Of course, no one has shown too much -- the Panthers are 8-17 under Rivera and this staff, which is why all of them have a tenuous hold on their jobs. But if you were going to shake things up, as Rivera obviously thinks he needs to, Murphy was the likely choice to go.

Now what about Rodgers? Well, he shares a name with the American composer who co-wrote Oklahoma, South Pacific and The Sound of Music. But he's not that guy. This is the Richard Rodgers who was part of the five-lateral affair called "The Play" that beat Stanford in 1982. This is his first year in the NFL, so there's really no telling how he will do.

One thing it sounds like is going to happen, though: Joe Adams is going to start returning kicks again before long. Adams got in Rivera's doghouse because he fumbled three times this season, but the Panthers are getting so little out of their punt and kickoff returns that they've got to try something. Rivera said Adams would be getting an opportunity before long.

Is everyone now ready to admit that McDermott is doing a very good job? The D is yielding a reasonable amount of points and Greg Hardy has actually become an NFL player. I hope the new GM/coach keep him.

Let's hope Richard Rodgers brings Many A New Day to the Panthers. After all, in special teams, You've Got to Be Carefully Taught. Otherwise, the whole staff will be saying So Long, Farewell at the end of the season.

McDermott is the only one of the coaches worth keeping. He has gotten Hardy to play well and CJ to play consistently well. Rivera needs to go on Jan 2 and Chud should be fired before then. Boy how Chud fooled us last year - bet he is regretting not taking a job offer when they were "rolling in" - and we were all worried he was going to leave. Now we cant give him away to anyone!

Hopefully we will get a decent GM and follow with a decent coaching staff!

The defensive line has been much improved but the secondary is still a weakness. You look at Denver's coverage on the Cam sacks and he had no where to throw. Our DBs rarely bump at the line and allow receivers to run unopposed for first down yardage.